'Things collapsed instantly': Thompson-Okanagan businesses still reeling from travel ban
All travel restrictions have been lifted in B.C. just days after they were introduced, but visitors are not coming back in the same numbers that were expected.
Last Saturday, the premier announced the ban on non-essential travel to the Central Interior and Southeast B.C., in an effort to free up accommodation spaces for wildfire evacuees and frontline responders.
“Things collapsed instantly. Phone just rang off the hook with people saying I need to cancel my reservation,” said Wyn Lewis, owner of Vibrant Vine winery in Kelowna.
He said the Saturday before, they welcomed 400 visitors, and that number drastically dropped to 23 after the travel restrictions were announced.
“So it was as bad as the depths of COVID. It was really, really bad. As soon as people were told to stay away from Kelowna, the tourist business basically dried up completely,” Lewis said.
He said the raging wildfires in the area was a “traumatic” experience, as several of his employees had to be evacuated.
But now things are starting to look up, as visitors packed the lawn to enjoy the winery’s concert series.
To give back to the community, Lewis said they’re donating half of all concert ticket proceeds, which will go to the United Way’s wildfire relief fund.
OTHER REGIONS IMPACTED
Even though the Similkameen Valley was not named in the travel ban, people still steered clear.
“We still feel the effects very acutely because the vast majority of people that visit us are coming to or going from the Okanagan,” explained Chris Mathieson, general manager of Grist Mill and Gardens in Keremeos.
He said the heritage site relies on admission sales and campground reservations to help them get through the winter.
During a typical summer day, they’d see about a hundred guests, but since the travel ban, there have just been a handful of people visiting.
“By not having any tourists at the busiest time of the year, it's a really big hit on a place that doesn't make a lot of money,” Mathieson said.
Although the travel restrictions were lifted a few days later, it was already too late, he said.
“People don't magically reappear the second the bans come off. They still got to plan trips, they've still got to make other arrangements,” he said.
He said he’s unclear if they’ll be able to recover from the travel restrictions, but remains hopeful that word is spreading about campground vacancies.
“Our community's been doing a really good job of stepping up and finding other ways to support us…things like booking campground spots into the future or buying our preserves. So that's been really reassuring, but it doesn't completely replace the big hole that the shutdown left behind,” he said.
MILLIONS IN TOURISM DOLLARS GONE
This weekend, Penticton was supposed to welcome the Ironman Triathlon, a world-class event that usually draws international racers and would bring in at least $15 million to the south Okanagan, according to tourism leaders.
But the event was cancelled hours after the premier announced travel restrictions.
“Those people come from international markets, and they stay usually for a long time. They're usually here for five to 10 days, and they're gone. So they can't quickly be replaced,” said Ellen Matthews-Walker, president and CEO of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association.
She said they are still trying to calculate exactly how much money has been lost as a result of the travel restrictions to the region.
She said she spoke to two small lodging operators that saw upwards of $300,000 worth of cancellations in three days.
“Then multiply that to all the various businesses large and small around the region. It's going to be a staggering number,” she said.
Matthews-Walker is hoping the province will step up to help the tourism and hospitality industry.
They’re requesting the province create a financial program for the businesses impacted, provide marketing dollars to help promote their fall season, assistance to lobby the federal government to extend the payback on COVID relief that’s due in December and create an incentive program to encourage people in B.C., Alberta and Washington State to visit.
“We're hopeful that we'll be able to find some solutions for our industry,” she said.
She encourages people to support their favourite businesses by buying gift cards to use at a later date.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
NEW Iconic Canadian song turns 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Prince Harry, Meghan arrive in Nigeria to champion the Invictus Games and meet with wounded soldiers
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in Nigeria on Friday to champion the Invictus Games, which he founded to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick servicemembers and veterans, among them Nigerian soldiers fighting a 14-year war against Islamic extremists.
Countries struggle to draft 'pandemic treaty' to avoid mistakes made during COVID
After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for how the world might respond to the next global outbreak.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.